""MP calls in Pinochet lawyerDamian Green has instructed Michael Caplan QC, the solicitor who represented the former Chilean dictator 10 years ago.

By Joshua RozenbergLast Updated: 5:10PM GMT 30 Nov 2008

Damian Green, the shadow minister arrested in connection with alleged Home Office leaks, has instructed the leading solicitor Michael Caplan QC, the Telegraph can reveal.

Mr Caplan was called to Belgravia police station on Thursday afternoon and remained with Mr Green until the MP was released after nine hours of questioning.

A partner at the specialist firm Kingsley Napley, Mr Caplan is best known for his success in representing the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested in London 10 years ago on a Spanish extradition warrant and released on medical grounds in March 2000.

The solicitor confirmed this afternoon that he had been instructed by Mr Green but would make no further comment. Mr Caplan has spent much of the weekend working on the case at his firm's offices in Clerkenwell.

It is thought he is currently seeking the return of papers seized by the police when they executed search warrants at Mr Green's homes and offices on Thursday.

Mr Caplan, 55, is one of the few practising solicitor-advocates to have been made a Queen's Counsel. A partner at Kingsley Napley for 25 years, he sits as a part-time judge in the Crown Court. He combines a warm and outgoing personality with a determination not to be drawn into saying any more than his instructions permit.

For all his erratic behaviour in the summer, he remains one of the most distinctive Tories. He needs to be back in the shadow cabinet in a strong role. I would have him back as home secretary, he would mince Jacqui Smith, and Grieve hasn't exactly lit up the firmament. Just get him to promise no more misbehaviour.